Elucidating Leo
by Bluley
Summary: What on earth could possess Leo to become an elder and desert his family? What really happened to him when the Titans struck?
1. Default Chapter

_**GIDEON: Well, there are no guarantees with time travel, Leo. You should know that better than anyone.** _

_**(LEO doesn't say anything to that.)** _

_**GIDEON: Sorry.** _

_**IT'S A BAD, BAD, BAD, BAD WORLD (1)** _

_

* * *

_

As he walked out of the temple with the sacred urn his feelings of anxiety grew. Who the hell was Chris and why should he trust him? What if they were wrong? What if making the sisters goddesses just made things worse. His eyes fell on Chris sat nonchalantly amongst the massacred bodies of old friends and colleagues. No. That was one thing that Leo was certain of, nothing could be worse than this.

"LEO."

"Piper." There she was again, her call seemed to offer him a glimpse of something pure and undefiled amid this butchery and the urge to run to her almost overwhelmed him.

"No!" Chris's voice cut into his thoughts, crushing his escape.

"But she needs me."

"Not as much as the rest of us do. You need to stay here, even afterwards, to coordinate."

He was right, Leo knew that Chris was right but his assurance was becoming irritating.

"All right. Then you should go. Otherwise, the girls won't understand."

Chris just nodded. "Good luck." Then he was gone leaving Leo alone. A second before he had wanted Chris away, but now without him the quiet felt shocking, no bustling whitelighters, no familiar clacks of conversation against a background of melodic orbing.

Leo sat down and reverently uncovered the urn, solemnly reciting,

"Ekre oh-ghee  
ak-man minento."

Nothing happened. Damn, he must have said it wrong. He tried again and again and again and again. Screw Chris. Leo had told him that he wasn't an Elder, that this couldn't work. He got up, resolute now. OK he would go back to the temple and if he couldn't find any more information there then he would go home to his family, they would figure this out together. He hunted for some time among the antiquities feeling sacrilegious and wrong. Then from nowhere he was blasted by Piper's pain and suddenly nothing else mattered.

"NO!"

Overcome by her agony, her despair, her fear he tried to orb but was flung down to the ground, his powers hazy. Panicking, he concentrated more, every atom of his being focused on her, and finally, as if in slow motion, the Manor attic materialised. For a moment Leo was transfixed by the carnage before him. Paige lay splattered across the floor and in horror he realised that...that mess must be what remained of Phoebe. At any other time this sight would have destroyed him but he ran past them blindly, conscious only of the need to get to Piper. He saw her, barely conscious as blood poured from a wound in her shoulder, her face a bludgeoned mess. Thank God. He was not too late.

He dived beside her, terrified of wasting a single second. "Hold on Baby, it's going to be okay."

Piper opened her eyes and sighed thankfully. "Leo."

His hands were over her, but there was no healing glow. Forcing himself to remain calm Leo tried again, struggling to think of loving thoughts, his best, happiest feelings, the first time he had seen her, when she told him she loved him, their marriage, Wyatt's birth. His hands flickered then nothing. What was wrong with him? This couldn't be happening, all the people he had saved, all the good he had done was for nothing if he couldn't save her.

She was fading now, no longer conscious. What was he going to do? What were they going to do? Something caught his eye and he turned to see Chris slumped against the wall, just looking at them dead eyed. Leo was almost sick with relief. Chris was a whitelighter, he could heal her. Eagerly he grabbed Chris tearing his shirt as Leo dragged him towards Piper. "Help me damn you. Save her, I can't."

Chris struggled out of his grasp, and stumbled back to the wall; unable to look at either Leo or Piper he mumbled, "No, I...."

But Leo had him by the throat. "You did this? You bastard!"

Chris shook him off. "No, it was the Titans, we went to face them but the girls were too weak, they followed us back here and......" His voice trailed away. "I can't heal them. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't her time to die. This stupid fucking spell." Angrily he pulled some paper from his pocket and screwed it up, hurling it against the wall in frustration. "This is all my fault, it must be all my fault." He went to kick a chair and cried out in alarm as his leg, now transparent, passed through it.

But Leo's wasn't listening, didn't care. He was back with Piper, holding her in his arms, stroking her hair, telling her how much he loved her, how much he needed her, how much Wyatt needed her. He talked on and on oblivious to everything; he talked on, long after Chris had faded away and long after she was dead.

* * *

_If I ever acquire any rights to Charmed I'll let you know. _

_If you are reading this for the second time, after the long, long gap. I am really sorry about the wait. _


	2. Part 2

At last he fell silent, bereft of words and emotion, aware only of the need to be with her. He held her for hours, hiding from his pain in a cocoon of insensibility. But this couldn't last and eventually the cramp in his legs forced him back to brutal reality and the cold stiff body that had been his wife. Heartbroken, Leo looked away and his glance fell on Paige. The sight of her broken remains was an ugly mockery of the smart, attractive woman she had been. Paige, always so particular about her appearance, would have hated to be seen like that.

Gently Leo set Piper aside and stumbled to his feet, his numb limbs making him stagger slightly as he moved towards his sister-in-law. It seemed strange how small she looked in death, how tiny they all looked deprived of that Halliwell vitality he loved so much and how very alone. It wasn't right. Suddenly it felt important that the sisters should all be together in death as they had been in life. He tenderly gathered what he could of Paige in his arms, apologising for the interference, and arranged her carefully beside Piper. As he straightened Paige's clothes his hand caught on a ball of paper lodged there and without thinking Leo smoothed it out. It was Chris's spell.

For the first time Leo noticed the whitelighter was gone. Good. He wasn't wanted, not there, this was no place for strangers. Leo supposed he had gone back to the future now that he had failed to fix whatever it was he had come back for. Thinking of Chris Leo became angry for the first time. It wasn't fair; she hadn't been supposed to die. Chris had said she wasn't supposed to die. He came from the future to fix things and it killed her. What damned right had he had to just waltz back in time and destroy their lives. How fucking irresponsible. What the hell could justified this mess he'd created. As a whitelighter he should have known better, known that only the direst of catastrophes could have warranted such a risk. Yet as Leo looked around, at his own direst of catastrophes, Chris's words began to beat a tattoo through his head. _He came from the future to fix things._

No, he couldn't, Leo couldn't do that. It broke all of the rules, but what were the rules worth without Piper? What was anything worth? Besides, he owed it to their son. Having salved his conscience Leo looked eagerly down at the spell. It all seemed simple enough; he just needed a witch to recite it for him and with his connexions finding a willing witch should be the least of his problems. He tried to sense one and realised with a shock that he couldn't, remembering his inability to heal, Leo attempted all his powers, one after another – nothing. He was scared then, helpless. Of course, it made sense that his powers had been waning, with no elders up there the magic would become unfocused and dissipate; soon there would be no active whitelighters or witches at all. For the first time the enormity of the tragedy struck him and his mind gaped at the idea of a world with out any good magic. Overwhelmed he almost gave up. No, that wasn't an option, they were depending on him. He had a plan, a good plan; he just needed someone with power to help him to execute it. He needed an elder, he needed…Gideon. Gideon would not have been up there when the Titans attacked. The magic school might still be safe, at least for a while.

He tried to sense it and found a slight signal, a small beacon of hope at last. Squatting next to Piper, Leo gently stroked a strand of hair from her bloody face. "It's going to be OK baby, I promise you. I am going to go back and make everything right. We don't end here." Tenderly, he kissed her forehead, then quickly stood up, concentrating hard he felt a pull and all of a sudden he was gone.

* * *

It was the noise that hit him first, babies crying, people fighting, shouting, weeping. After the deathly quiet of the attic this din was unbearable, demanding his attention, it forced him to look outside of his own misery. Grief and despair surrounded him and Leo's weary heart bled for the wretchedness that he saw. The Grand Hall was chaos, packed with refugees of all types and every minute new creatures materialised, desperate for answers. Everywhere he looked white lighters were weaving between the victims valiantly trying to offer hope and courage, but he noticed no healing. The dead and dying were evident everywhere. In one corner a small, neglected child caught his eye and he thought of Wyatt, safe with the Morrises. What would be his son's fate if Leo failed? 

A hand grasped his shoulder. "LEO! My boy. Delighted to see you. I was hoping that you would find us." Gideon's tone exuded brash confidence but the worried expression in his eyes belayed this bravado. His manner changed and speaking more quietly he continued, "I was sorry to learn about..."

"Thanks." Leo cut in abruptly; he wasn't surprised that the elder knew of his loss but he couldn't talk about it, not even to Gideon, his feelings were too raw, too personal to share. He got to the point. "I need your help."

Tactfully Gideon followed his lead. "Absolutely, anything I can do, although unfortunately we don't have much time, we are about to convene a council meeting."

"Of the Elders? I thought they were dead." Leo was amazed.

"The majority not all. However, I fear that it may only be a matter of time. The Titans are picking off the rest of us as we speak, I don't know how many still remain. The few that made it here are combining what magic we have left to sustain this sanctuary as long as we are able."

"I may have a solution, a way to make things right."

His eager tone attracted attention and people looked around, impatient to hear this man and his plan of salvation. Gideon quickly drew Leo aside. "Leo please be more discrete. We can't give false hope, not after everything else. It would be cruel."

Leo started again, more quietly this time. "There's a spell, to send me back to the past, I can stop all of this happening."

"Stop what? The Titan slaughter, or your family dying?"

"Both."

"I can't agree to that. We don't condone magic for personal gain, ever." He continued, more kindly. "Leo, I can't even begin to envisage how deeply you are grieving, but deep down you know that this is not the answer."

Seeing that Leo remained unconvinced, Gideon put an arm around his shoulder. "You have to trust me. I have seen this happen too many times. Once you begin using magic to rearrange the world to your own liking, it never stops. It starts as a small concession, an act so easily sanctioned it doesn't even prick the conscience and then its too late, before you realise it you are justifying greater and greater acts of evil to achieve your ends. I cannot let that happen to you. Leo you must believe that everything happens for a reason."

"It's not like that."

"No?"

"NO!" Leo looked around at the misery surrounding them, frustrated beyond all measure. "Is this really what you want? Is this your greater good? You know as well as I do that without elders up there, without organised good magic, evil must prevail. Where is your order and balance then? Can you square that with your conscience?"

Gideon, taken aback by this attack, indicated the room. "This is not our doing. You can not blame us for this."

"Not yet, but if you don't help me to put things right, to readdress the balance, to work for the greater good then yes, I will definitely blame you."

Shaken Gideon made to leave. "I must go, I am late for the meeting." but as he reached the door he hesitated and returned, saying with some unease, "What exactly is it you want me to do?"

Relieved, Leo passed Gideon the spell. "I have this, but no means to open a portal, do you still have that kind of power?" Gideon looked at the spell thoughtfully. "Not alone, but with the help of the other elders it might still be possible."

He came to some decision. "I must confer with the others, no doubt they will want to question you themselves. When they do you must emphasise that your aspirations are to defeat the Titans, if they think your purpose is more personal they will not countenance this." He paused. "Leo I must accentuate that there are no guarantees in time travel. You may do this and still not achieve what you want."

"All I want is my family back, things as they were before."

"I know."

* * *

"This cannot continue, we weaken by the second, if one of us goes back up there, we can begin to refocus the magic." 

"Not again, Solino, how many times must that plan fail before you accept that it won't work. The Titans are waiting for us now and with our diminished powers we do not stand a chance."

"But we must do something, we can't just wait for them to destroy everything that we have worked for."

Leo had never seen the elders like this, flustered and bickering, gone was the serene aloofness he knew and strangely this glimpse of humanity was not a comfort. The elders noticed their arrival and the debate abruptly broke off.

"Gideon at last, we were beginning to become concerned."

"I apologise, something came up." He raised his hand to ward off an objection. "I know Koliston, but it was important." Before anyone else could speak he drew Leo forward. "I think that we are all familiar with Leo. He has an interesting suggestion which may well solve our predicament."

The elders looked at Leo curiously, a couple smiled or nodded in recognition. Resolute in his purpose Leo began.

"I have come into the possession of a spell which should enable me to travel back in time. With the council's permission I will use this to prevent the Titan attack"

A babble of voice erupted immediately "**Its an interesting proposition."** ,"_How? We can't use magic for our own personal gain?",_ "How can we sit by and do nothing?" ,"We have a responsibility as the guardians of good magics"," **_We have a responsibility to our charges and the world"  
_**  
Gideon intervened. "Friends, this is obviously an emotive and difficult issue, if I may summarise the points it might help. We are all, quite rightly, uncomfortable with the idea of using a spell for our own personal gain to prevent the attack on the Elders." There was a general murmuring of agreement. "However, we appreciate that we do have a wider responsibility to the world and..."

Leo interrupted, "If you send me back to the time just after the attack, I believe that my plan can satisfy one without offending the other."

"But what use is that? We would be in no better position to fight them than we are now."

Desparate to make them understand Leo became more animated. "That's not true, we will be able to use the Charmed Ones. Originally I tried to use the Urn of Houloria to turn them into Goddesses." There was stunned silence in the room, he carried on regardless. "I failed, as a whitelighter I had insufficient power, if we could overcome that, I could try again."

"NO!" The elders were aghast.

Gideon, however, was quick to support the idea. "Does anyone here have a better suggestion of how we might fight gods?"

"But creating more gods, that just makes things worse."

Gideon responded dryly, "The Titans are picking us off one by one, with no one above to focus the magic we have barely enough to sustain the shield around the school, soon this too will be exposed, then we and everything we have ever stood for will be gone forever. Please, tell me exactly how Leo's plan could make things worse?"

Taking their silence as acceptance he turned to Leo. "Do you think that you can work it?"

"I, I'm not sure, is there a way to make the urn useable by a whitelighter?"

Gideon looks at the others, I think that we can remedy that "It is not in our gift to make you a full elder, however, we can make you a sort of probationary one, and that should suffice."

Leo took a quick step back, this wasn't going the way he planned. "No. I can't become an elder."

"Don't worry you wont be, your candidature needs to be supported by many more of us to orchestrate that but time is precious and further discussion will only waste it, so, if there are no more objections?"

Meeting no more resistance Gideon closed his eyes and placed a hand on Leo's head, after a moment a patch of white appeared there.

"It is done. Solino please would you arrange the portal, I have a few more words to say to Leo"

Drawing Leo aside "I am not sure what you know of time travel Leo, it is different for whitelighters than humans. A mortal may coexist with an earlier version of himself quite comfortably as two separate individuals. As an immortal you exist out of time and therefore essentially the you of today and the you of tomorrow are one. Whatever you do try not to encounter your past self or you will meld together, your collective experiences and knowledge pooled. This is just one of so many reason why this is so discouraged." He looked around." Ah I see that we are ready to go. Goodbye Leo and good luck."

Leo grateful beyond all measure shook his hand heartily. "Thank you, for everything. I won't forget this, what you've done for me" with that he was gone.


	3. Part 3

"Damn!" As he exited from the portal into the temple he saw past Leo scrambling backwards, visibly panicking at the emergence of another self. Leo raised a reassuring hand. "Don't worry, its just me... us… future me. I've..."

Anything that he might have added was abruptly cut short as his soul exploded through his rib cage and shattered his body into billions of atoms that hurtled to the far reaches of the temple. His molecules swirled furiously around, frantically trying to reconnect they mingled with those of past Leo, spinning faster and faster they became an ever decreasing circle until finally all slammed together leaving him reformed and gasping on the floor. Paralysed with shock and pain he just lay there as his bewildered brain tried to reconcile the two separate consciouses that it now contained.

After a while the sensation faded and he forced himself to stand and push aside the confusion, he would have time to figure out who the hell he was once this was over and he was safely back home. Making his way unsteadily to the door he was relieved beyond all measure to see Chris, again sat indifferently among the dead elders.

"LEO." Piper's call caught him by surprise. He whispered her name, not sure if he dared believe what he had heard.

"NO!" Chris broke through this dream and drew him back to reality and his mission.

"But she needs me." Leo almost pleaded, his hunger to see her like a physical pain.

"Not as much as the rest of us do. You need to stay here, even afterwards, to coordinate."

Leo reluctantly pulled himself together, conscious of the cost of delay, but he couldn't bear that she should cry for him in vain, or think that he might be ignoring her.

"All right. Then you should go. Otherwise, the girls won't understand."

Chris nodded, said, "Good luck", and left. Jealously, Leo watched him go.

This was it then, the moment of truth, but as Leo sat down and slowly opened the urn his resolve faded. What if it wasn't enough? What if the sisters failed and the Titans killed them anyway? The thought of losing her again terrified him. He didn't have to do this, to gamble everything. He could just go home, back to his family and wait for the magic to disappear. Piper might like that, a normal life at last with out magic. Then he thought of the scene at Magic School and the illusion faded. A life built on that lie, on the misery of others would be no life for them at all. Defeated he recited the spell.

He watched the spirit of the urn as it soared away, suddenly aware of the surrounding magic as it flowed through him engulfing every cell of his body with joy and love. He felt ecstatic, moved beyond anything he had known before. At once connected to every magical being alive yet remaining supremely alone, the master of his own destiny and the protector of all.

Greatly soothed by the sensation Leo sat back. So what now? He thought of Piper and as he did so to his surprise a clear picture of the Manor formed in his mind revealing a frustrated Chris arguing with the sisters in vain. The scene made him smile, partly with pleasure just to see them alive and partly in amusement at seeing someone else suffer the whitelighter run-around usually reserved for him. Still it would not do, this was too important to mess up. His attention lingered on Piper; she was calling him again. Maybe he should pop down, just for a moment, he could give the floundering Chris some pointers and...

"LEO Help me! NOW!"

Shit! What was that? A new image flashed unbidden in his mind as the frantic cry exploded in his head. He saw the Titans advance on….was that Kevin, Remus's replacement as an elder?"

"LEO!" The gods unleashed their power at the trembling elder.

Instinctively Leo waved a hand and to his amazement a slightly singed Kevin appeared by his side.

Visibly shaken Kevin flopped to the floor. "Man, you cut that a bit fine didn't you?"

"Erm, sorry." Leo looked at his hand nervously as though scared what it might do next. "How did you know I was up here? Could you sense me?" A thought occurred to him. "Do you think the Titans know we're here?"

"Hello, second sight. I saw you rescue me but I've got to say I was getting worried." He smiled. "Thanks by the way."

Kevin got up and dusted himself down, saying, "I wouldn't worry about the Titans just yet, they think I'm vanquished and at the moment they've got other elders to fry. Possibly some of the jammy orbing bastards who just up and left me to their tender mercies. You ex whitelighter Elders don't know how lucky you are."

"No, you've got it wrong. I'm not an elder, not a real one, its all just temporary. When this is over I go home."

Kevin looked doubtful and his expression alarmed Leo.

"No really. I don't know what you've seen but this isn't me. It can't be, I'm not cut out to be an elder."

"And I was? Face it Leo, I was in the right place, or the wrong place depending upon how you look at it, at the right time, why not you?" He laughed. "Cheer up, its not that bad, most whitelighters would give their wings for this opportunity."

"Yeah! Well not this one."

Realising this was neither the time nor the place Kevin changed the subject.

"So, decided what to do with us yet?"

"Us?"

"Me and the other elders that you are going to rescue."

"Oh!" Leo was a bit taken aback; part of his mind was still having a hard time accepting that he was here at all. "Will there be a lot off you?"

"Can't say, that would be cheating, not to mention personal gain."

"Right, right of course. Obviously its not safe here. Erm…what about the magic school, do I put you there?" He looked at Kevin hopefully but the elder gave nothing away. "No, the Titans are sure to look there eventually but it should do as a temporary fix until I can sort out something better. I'll need to hide you somewhere they would never look and disguise it with something they would never expect. Which would be…think Leo, think, you can do this, think you dolt….. Fairy Magic! Yes that could work."

He looked up at the smiling Kevin who said, "Still think you're not suited for this?"

Leo scowled "I'll orb you to the school for now."

Kevin stayed his arm. "Seriously Leo, take my advice and don't fight this, don't even try. I've seen glimpses of what will happen if you do. Felt the descent into near madness you'll take if you turn your back on us. Killing other elders, trying to destroy the cosmic order as we know it."

Leo was incredulous. "Me?" He shook his head. "Look I can't think about this now." Then seeing the concern on Kevin's face he added, "But I promise you, if the time comes I'll wont be hasty. Now, Magic school. Ready?"

* * *

Gideon massaged his temples as he tried to take in what the Leo pictured in his mind was telling him. "OK, let me get this straight. You came back in time to save the lives of your wife and her siblings. You've now made them goddesses in an attempt to vanquish the Titans and you wish me to house this growing band of wandering elders that you keep acquiring until you can hide them in a collection of remote shacks covered in fairy magic. Oh yes and my future self thought this insanity was such an excellent notion that I persuaded the other elders to concur and we made you an elder to boot."

Leo was relieved by Gideon's quick grasp of the situation, he had 12 disorientated elders now, with more joining them all the time, dealing with them while marshalling the growing queries from the various magical communities and issuing orders to whitelighters was taking its toll. The fairy magic construction seemed to be taking forever and to top it all Piper's growing frustration and anxiety was a constant ache.

"Pretty much, well apart from the Elder part." He added hastily, " That's only temporary. What ever Kevin says."

"Kevin? Ah Elder Kevin, I see." Knowing Leo as he did Gideon saw a lot. "Look I know how you feel Leo and if its any consolation if this comes up for debate I will argue most strongly against your invest….WHAT THE..?"

His image disappeared from Leo's mind "GIDEON!" It had to be the Titans. There was no time to persuade the sisters to attack, Leo would have to go himself, but before he could orb to the school Gideon reappeared.

"NO! Leo you can't come here. Or rather there is no need for you to come here, its just a school emergency I need to deal with. Your place is there saving the world. You are doing good work my friend and don't worry about the Elder part you can count on me." And with that his mental image vanished.

In the flesh Gideon turned back to the dishevelled newcomer that had appeared in his study and was now slumped against the wall. His futuristic clothes a tattered mess.

"Good Grief Man, what the hell happens to you?"


	4. Part 4

The praise and good wishes were pouring in from all sources now, as grateful elders, who yesterday barely dained to remember his name, seemed to be queuing up to mentally express their thanks. It felt good. But more importantly it felt right

Chris had told him to act like an elder and he had. It had come so very naturally, wearing the robes, conferring with the various magical leaders, arranging the safe houses, devising protection, organising resistance, all so very easy and natural. Unrestricted by petty whitelighter rules and family ties he'd soared, fulfilling a potential to do good on a level he could have never before imagined and a part of him recognised that he was born for this. He loved his family and caring for Wyatt was a joy, but he now knew how much he missed this other magical life independent of the Manor. A life where he was not Piper's husband, Wyatt's father or even the Charmed One's Whitelighter, he was simply Leo and for the first time he appreciated exactly how big his career sacrifice had been.

Yet despite this, throughout everything, he remained aware of Piper, her racing mind and anxieties, the hurt she felt was a constant ache. Her hold over him never wavered and every time she called his name he had to fight the urge to drop everything and run to her, but fight he did, believing in the sisters totally he thought it was the one place he was not needed but time was running out and they had still not faced the Titans.

Something had to be done. He sent instructions down to Chris and watched with anxiety as the sister's went to save Roland. They could do this; if they focused and used their powers they could do this. Now if Piper just channelled her emotions to…… "NO!"

"LEO!"

Terrified he orbed them to safety. Hell, that was close. One second more and he'd have lost them again, with no second chances this time. He sat down, feeling sick. Should potential elders feel sick? What the hell were they playing at? Why couldn't they see how important this was? He was furious now, what stupid, pointless, reckless danger they were putting themselves and everyone else in by refusing to take this seriously. He listened to their exchange in the Sanctuary and Piper's demand to talk to him.

Didn't she realise how much he wanted to, how hard this was for him. Frustrated he shouted back. Then staggered as her returning roar shook the heavens. Why did she have to make it so hard? Why wouldn't she see that he couldn't just drop everything and come running because she demanded it, he was needed here. There was so much at stake and he was doing everything that he could, why couldn't she just help him?

* * *

Was he conscious? How far had he come from the future? Whitelighters spent so little consecutive time on earth that they rarely aged, but this one could have been 90. Gideon looked compassionately at the gaunt, drawn face and noticed him stir. 

"My boy, good to see you. Here, let me help you up."

"No. I'm fine, leave me alone. I SAID I'M FINE!" Gideon found himself flying backwards through the air before he crashed, winded, into a bookcase. He lay there for a moment fighting for breath, defenceless as very old and very heavy volumes rained down on him. Too shocked to be angry, all he could think was, _this can't be Leo?_

Still dazed, he struggled to his feet, roughly assisted by the slightly shame faced whitelighter. "I said I was fine. We don't need anyone's help."

Gideon was struck by the lack of apology and the alarming use of "we". Was there someone else here or was Leo….?. Anxious, Gideon looked closely at his old friend's face, relieved to see only exhaustion there. "Leo are you OK, has anything…its Piper isn't it…Is she, is she dead?"

For some reason this touched a nerve and Leo flared up instantly, rage filling his face. "WHO TOLD YOU? The sneaky conniving bastards, they've sent someone else haven't they? I told them I would handle this. I even came to see you first as a show of good faith. This is nothing to do with them or you. Its our problem, mine and Piper's and we will sort it out."

"Leo, calm down. Its me Gideon, I'm not the enemy. I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about but no one has been here, I merely guessed. I., well lets just say I'm recognising a pattern here."

Leo, slightly embarrassed by his over reaction, made an effort to become more composed and in doing so looked much more like the man Gideon knew. ""Right….right. I'm sorry Gideon its, well its just things have been a bit hard."

Feeling things were on a slightly less rocky ground Gideon took a chance and continued; " Is that what you're here for, to save her?"

"No…yes …no sort of…its….well its.. Its just complicated."

He sat down wearily. "Things are bad Gideon, really bad and….look I can't tell you everything, I'm just here to see Piper. If you really want to help all I need you to do is to contact my present self and keep him away until we're done talking." He got up suddenly. "Why doesn't he just answer her fucking call already?"

"Who?" Gideon looked around, now totally confused.

"Leo….me…past me. The Jerk. Can't he tell how worried she is? She's been calling him all day and its killing me. What the hell is wrong with him?"

Gideon was far from convinced that allowing his obviously emotionally volatile friend from the future to wander around in the present would be in anyone's best interests. Trying hard not to provoke him more he said in his most placatory tone "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

To his relief Leo remained calm and said with a tired smile, "I know what you're thinking and I realise how this must appear to you, but I'm here with yours and the Council's support. Look, I even have a letter from you. You said that you wouldn't believe that if I didn't have proof. Looks like you were right."

"Actually, after the events of today I'm finding it increasingly difficult to be surprised by anything I do or will condone." He took the envelope, immediately recognising his own rather elegant copperplate writing. Breaking the seal he read the contents and became lost in thought. He didn't speak for some time, causing Leo to become increasingly suspicious, unable to restrain himself any longer he blurted, "What does it say? Does it mention Wyatt? Because it was an accident, he didn't…"

Gideon interrupted quickly before Leo could work himself up again. "Its fine, it just mentions that Wyatt is causing some difficulties in the future and you've returned, _with the Council's blessings_, to try and prevent this. It says I should make this my top priority. Given the current situation here I was merely pondering the best way to go about that." He carefully folded the letter up and put it in his jacket pocket then in a unperturbed manner continued,

"Unfortunately, you can't see Piper at the moment, quite apart from your current attire, which may I say is unlikely to make a favourable impression on her."

Leo looked down uncertainly at his scruffy clothes. He smiled. "No, it won't." then glamoured into something more respectable.

"Much Better." Although privately Gideon was thinking that it had done nothing to remove the bloodshot eyes and haunted demeanour. "However, that does nothing to resolve our other problem namely, Piper is currently a goddess."

"She's a what!" To Gideon's surprise Leo was obviously amazed.

"A Goddess." He paused before adding slowly "Don't you remember, you made the Charmed Ones goddesses…..to defeat the Titans….When you were an elder."

"An elder? Me? No, no you've got it wrong this never happened, non of it."

"But it has happened, is happening." Realising that the conversation was going no where Gideon stopped and tried a different tack "So the Titans didn't attack in your past?"

"No they did and the Charmed Ones vanquished them, well sort of, but no one was made a Goddess.. After the elder massacre we regrouped for a while. Then using glamouring and shape shifting spells we managed to exploit their divisions, in the end they destroyed themselves".

"Then this is serious. Your presence here must have changed things. When did you arrive and with whom have you spoken?"

"No one. I've been here a few hours, but I haven't seen anyone, I've been on the bridge, thinking things through. I was alone the whole time."

He was so obviously sincere that Gideon believed him. "Well it can't be helped now. Until this is resolved you cannot see her and if I may suggest Leo you might best serve your cause in the mean time by getting some sleep. Your usual room is available." Expecting this to end the matter he turned away.

"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

"No. I will not go nicely to my room and wait until the Elders tell me that I am allowed to see my wife." This time his tone was calm but there was no mistaking the cold fury that bubbled inside him.

But didn't you hear me? Piper is a goddess. She may well be instrumental in vanquishing the Titans. It's a threat that affects thousands of lives, the very magical world as we know it, for you to distract her now could well jeopardise all of that."

"I don't care. The Titans are your problem. They are not mine and not Piper's, or won't be, not when I've explained things to her. I think you will find from now on OUR only problem will be OUR family. You people are unreal. This never stops. The world ending threats just keep on coming and you just keep on taking until there is nothing left for you to take. Well it stops now. Not after this disaster or the next one, now. You might as well find some other family to destroy because nothing will ever come before US again".

Hetried to orb out, but instead fell lifeless to the floor, blasted by an electric bolt from his mentor. Gideon quickly checked his pulse and was relieved to find one."I'm so sorry Le."

Miserably he pulled out the letter and re read it.

"Oh no, Gideon no surprises there at all."


End file.
